"plenty of food for thought...a powerful and beautifully designed theatrical experience."

- Zachary Stewart, TheaterMania

"The Chairs asks us to listen and look very closely as we observe a parade of visual, textual and auditory artifacts pass before us. And yet, one of my preferred moments included the rare presence of a human being speaking plainly, purposefully and directly onstage. I hearken back to the words of Sister Wendy, one of the many visitors, who reminds us that it is “very hard to make judgments on the works of our own time. We have to wait.” I am waiting to see what Skipitares does next in this new era of her work and grateful that LaMaMa still exists as a home for theatrical experimentation."

Thursday, May 22, 2014

We are thrilled to tell you that the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation has awarded La MaMa a 2014 Village Award. Sponsored by GVSHP, the Annual Village Award is given "to honor people, places, and organizations that contribute significantly to the special quality of life in Greenwich Village, NoHo, and the East Village." The Awards Ceremony will be held on Monday, June 16th at The Auditorium at The New School. (We'll be there!)La MaMa is truly honored to have been recognized in this way!

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Help bring The Great Jones Repertory Company's production of The Trojan Woman to the world.
The themes of The Trojan Women - war, genocide, atrocities aimed at women and children caught in endless struggles for power and wealth - are as relevant today as they were 2500 years ago. Will that ever change? That question is the basis for this project.
The funds being raised are for phase one of the project: a three-week teaching residency. This summer, 3 actors and one musician will travel to Guatemala City – Cambodia will follow after. During the residency, we will teach selected music and staging, and find ways to incorporate local performance traditions into the piece. And, through dialogue with leaders, artists, and professionals, we will explore how this project will grow. A fully-mounted production will be staged during the following year. After that, the production stays with our partners.
To give: GO TO KICKSTARTER

Monday, May 19, 2014

Alice Tolan-Mee is a co-composer and performer for Theodora Skipitares' THE CHAIRS, a response to Eugene Ionesco's play of same name, running May 22th - June 8th in the Ellen Stewart Theatre at La MaMa. Here, she answers our six questions.

1. What is it like to write music for Theodora Skipitares?

I'm collaborating with Sxip Shirey who is abroad, he's on tour with a circus, so we're collaborating over Skype and e-mail. He's worked with Theodora a lot before, so whenever I'm confused, or can't figure out where to go with something, I ask him and he gives me guidance.

Working with Theodora specifically is great. She has a really clear idea of the feeling she wants out of the music, which is really helpful. It's helpful to work with someone who knows what they want from you. At the same time, she gives me free rein and lets me try different things. Most of the music is coming out of improvisation and her saying 'oh, that thing you did at that moment - do that more.' So, a lot of it is coming out guided improv.

2. This production is inspired by Ionesco's The Chairs, but does not follow that text exactly. How has the piece developed away from that starting point?

It still comes out of the original inspiration of Ionesco's The Chairs. In that play there are guests coming but there aren't enough chairs. In this play guests come, but each guest is a chair. And each chair gives a political speech. It's like the Old Woman is inviting these people into her home as a summit. It was always like that, in earlier versions of this production, but the text for the Old Woman has changed a lot. It's been heavily influenced by Judith Malina, who plays her, and Judith's ideas, her preferences with the text and her performance... and her ideas about Ionesco. She's not the biggest fan. Also, now Gertrude Stein is one of the 'star' chairs and one of the most vocal. Ionesco is a chair now. So those two have had quite an influence on the emotional structure and the message.

3. As a younger artist, what is it like for you to be around someone like Judith Malina? What do you see in her that interests or affects you?

She is incredibly fierce and forceful. Seeing that in her, it makes sense to me that she's had the career she's had, and that she is as strong of a presence in the theatre scene as she is. And that she is a female artist... I affects me to see a woman who comes into the room and is instantly running it. But at the same time, she always gives over to Theodora and she just wants to serve the piece. Always. So it's like this... fierce service.

I've read some of her diaries from '47, when she was my age. They're published. She's an avid diary keeper and a lot of them have been published. So, back in June, I was reading her diaries and seeing her in rehearsals, and that got to be a little bit much. I thought 'maybe I should wait to read anymore of this'. It felt like a little too much of a personal experience to be having without her involved in it. But... it's really cool being around her. She's badass. She's really badass.

4. You first worked with Theodora as a singer. How is it different to collaborate with her as a composer versus as a performer?

When I performed for her in Prometheus, maybe two years ago, I was mostly working with Sxip. He was composing that, and we were in rehearsals with Theodora but our direct contact was more with Sxip. So this is the first time I feel like I'm intimately collaborating with Theodora herself.

Also, I'm new at composing. Two years ago, when I did that piece, I had never composed. Over the past couple of years I've gone from never imagining that I would write anything, to writing music for Theodora. So just being a composer and trying to bring her ideas into a musical world is new for me. At the same time, it's similar work because I am still working with Sxip from afar and that grounds me. That's like a safety net.

5. What kind of music have you been listening to, or has been influencing you, lately?

That's a funny questions because the band that I'm in, Anawan, is just finishing recording an album, so that's mostly what I've been listening to because we're mixing it. It's five vocals and I play electric bass and there's a Wurlitzer keyboard and a nylon string guitar and electronics.

But I've also been listening to...Hmm... Beyonce's new album... Animal Collective. I've been listening to them a lot because composing on the computer is new for me and Animal Collective is helpful to listen to for that. Also friends' bands, electronic musicians, I've been listening to a lot. Like Andrew Ryder and JX Randall. They're people who've done this a lot and I'm drawing on them for help. I'm playing cello in this and singing a little bit, but most of what I'm doing is creating music in Logic with synthetic instruments. So I've been listening to music that helps me figure out how you infuse deep emotion into music made that way.

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

I was a La MaMa kid. So it's totally crazy now being a La MaMa adult. I grew up going to La MaMa when I don't think anyone my age was going to La MaMa. I was probably three the first time I went with my dad. Working here and coming here every day feels very much like there is continuity in my life. Also, La MaMa feels like the New York I always wished still existed. I wish this was possible, and it is here, somehow. To just do what you believe in and have that be enough to draw an audience and get your work up.

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Chris Masters presents his new piece, A Willful Host, "an exploration of self-exploitation," May 22-25, as part of the La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival. Here, he answers our six questions.

1. A Willful Host is partially described as "an exploration of self-exploitation." What inspired you to create work on this theme?

I have been curious about this idea for quite some time. The phenomenology of self-exploitation is something that, for me, is ripe with opportunities for investigation... from power, to sincerity, love, and achievement... even the business of dance itself; all have some connectivity to exploitation. That said, I am interested in engaging with points of departure that allow for a conversation. The work doesn't make any claims or come to any conclusions, but hopefully functions as a conduit. This precipice of "self-exploitation" has manifest over the creative process into a more candid study on the relationship between parasite and host where there is some type of reciprocity in the air. It's not exactly symbiosis we are looking at; it's something else, something that I am still processing... A want to be a host, a need to provide for someone even at the detriment to one's own ability to thrive. I was talking to a colleague about the work and said, "I am making a dance about parasitic connections." His reply was, "Oh, so you are making a love story." I wasn't sure how I felt about it at first, but now I am liking that idea.

2. How has collaborating with your performers and composer Sven Britt shaped the development of A Willful Host?

Collaborating with these folks has been an amazing experience. The final product is reflective of the collaborators who were in the room while we building this piece. It is their input, their histories, their opinions, their choices that have informed the work and given it legs. My role has been more directorial in nature (shaping patterns, zooming in, or out, of scenes). Specifically in reference to Britt's score, I feel like the partnership has been fruitful and his input has helped steer the work, both in the discussion of what sound to marry to what music, but also in regards to the tones and sensorial responses we aim to achieve (both in the witness and the performer). I am incredibly fortunate to be working with so many talented and daring people. They make the job much more fun, and incredibly rewarding.

3. How do you begin work on a new piece?

We start with lots of talking and lots of recording responses to improvisational prompts. For this work, we spent the first month or so playing with different movement ideas, playing games, setting up challenges and watching them fail or succeed. As a group, we wrote a lot, making lists of things, recollecting on moments where we have felt exploited, or have exploited others. On the back end, I was digesting texts and films related to the subject matter to provide additional fodder for the work.

4. What is your relationship to character and narrative in dance?

Character and narrative help me navigate the flow of my work. One gives life to the other, and the relationship between the two helps me figure out who these people on stage are, or perhaps, who they are becoming. Through deconstructing narratives and constructing personas, we get a chance to globalize some of what we are looking at, broadening our reach and finding opportunities to evoke empathy or locate a point of intersection with our audience. For this work, the entire cast engaged in multiple assignments that gave us prompts, thoughts, and rules. These elements helped define and carve out our movement ideas. The character development was birthed out of the things they were bringing up in these assignments. Once movement was generated, we looked at parallels and incongruities. Marrying ideas, we started to see characters develop. Relationships were created from the space between two points that would never meet, that wanted to meet, and that are inseparable. The characters in this specific work are really layered... Sometimes enjoying servitude, sometimes needing it like air, and sometimes wallowing in the reality of their situation.

5. Which artist(s) in the festival are you most excited to see?

I am seriously excited to check out Chase Brock's work. I feel like the evening we share is going to be extremely engaging, with our work coming from two very separate spaces. I also am very interested in Cedric Andrieux & Christophe Ives US premiere, as well as Yoshiko Chuma & Rebecca Lazier's shared evening. For many of the artists in the festival it will be my first time seeing their work live, so I am just stoked. I am really excited about all of the opportunities that La MaMa Moves creates for the NYC dance audience!

6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you?

Working at La MaMa means a lot to me. I have been making dances for over ten years now, but as an organization, CMD is still an emerging company. Having an opportunity to present work in a historic venue like La MaMa is a wonderful accomplishment, and I am really proud to be part of such a dynamic and talented pool of performers.

Acclaimed performer Marga Gomez portrays a crew of incurable romantics as they chase their hearts’ desires – into the night, through decades, and to insane lengths. Orestes, a macho maitre d’ is infatuated with a tin eared singer who is married to an academic who never sleeps and is never awake. On the other side of town Orestes’s daughter cuts off her hair, joins a coven, and starts dating the captain of a women’s football team. They are observed and documented by Polaroid Phillie, an ageless nightclub photographer and fixture at gay bars, Spanish restaurants, and wherever passion happens.

La MaMa presents
LOVEBIRDS

Written & Performed by Marga Gomez
Directed by David SchweizerJune 6 – June 15, 2014
Fridays & Saturdays at 10pm; Sundays at 5:30pm

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

In conjunction with her appearance in Theodora Skipitares's adaptation of THE CHAIRS, Coffeehouse Chronicles #120 on Saturday, May 31st, will focus on Judith Malina. Malina is an actress, writer, director, and co-founder of the
Living Theater. Founded in 1947 as an imaginative alternative to the
commercial theater by Judith Malina, the German-born student of Erwin
Piscator, and Julian Beck, an abstract expressionist painter of the New
York School, The Living Theatre has staged nearly a hundred productions
performed in eight languages in 28 countries on five continents – a
unique body of work that has influenced theater the world over. A life
long pacifist, anti death penalty activist and self-described leader of
“the beautiful non-violent anarchist revolution”, Judith Malina’s work
has continually challenged the forms, content and style of the theatre
and its relationship to and with the audience.

Panel:

Evangeline Morphos (moderator)

George Bartenieff

Karen Malpede

Cindy Rosenthal

Tom Walker

Penny Arcade

Mark Hall Amitin

Performances:

- Excerpts from Judith Malina’s play No Place to Hide / performed the Living Theatre Ensemble

- Excerpts from Julian Beck’s book The Life of the the Theatre / performed by alumni of Hostra University

- Songs from Judith Malina’s plays The History of the World (music by Sheila Dabney) andKorach (music by Steve Taylor) / performed by Thomas Walker

1. What is the history of your collaboration with Christophe Ives and what inspired you to make a duet exploring "the possibilities and limits" of your relationship?

Christophe and I have been friends for a very long time, since our time at the Paris National Conservatory of Music and Dance in the mid-90's. We remained friends all that time, but never got a chance to work and dance together. So this desire was the initial starting point for us. Early on in the process, our relationship revealed itself as an important component of whatever this piece would become, and so it needed to be addressed. It turned out to take a pretty central part in our process, and to be an issue complex enough, this relationship of ours. We were long time friends, but in this space, the dance studio, we had to find a new way to connect, we had to let go of who we thought the other one was, based on some very old memories, rebuild from scratch, and create some new common ground.2. Do you find audiences in France and the US to have different tastes or reactions?

I think more than taste or reaction, it is mostly their expectation that is, to me, slightly different. For whatever cultural or historical reason, in France, people tend to be more critical, more precise in what they want to see, whereas, in the US, I do feel an openness to whatever is to come. There is less of an urge to judge, but more a will to understand.3. What is most exciting and most challenging about performing a duet?

Mostly the relationship that first is created in the process of making the work, and then to see how this relationship evolves in the performance, in front of an audience. The challenging part is to use this relationship to help us create a dialogue with the audience, to bring the audience inside, with us. 4. When did you know that you would that you wanted a career in the arts?

My desire was actually not a career in the arts, per se. I only wanted to become a dancer. It is only as I became one that I started to open up my vision to the arts in a broader sense. The difficulty is to find ways to keep the desire alive as more questions arise throughout one's career.5. Which artists have been inspiring you recently?

A few performances have stayed with me that I have seen recently: "Perturbation" from Krystian Lupa, "Germinal" from Antoine Defoort and Halory Goerger, "Doing While Doing" from Daniel Linehan, "The Second Freedom" from Leja Jurisic and Teja Reba, among others....6. What does performing at La MaMa mean to you?

It will be the first time. Christophe and I are incredibly grateful to (La MaMa Moves! Curator) Nicky Paraiso for taking the chance to present our work. Our experience so far with the LaMaMa team as been fantastic, and we are so excited to come and perform here!

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Choreographer, dancer and teaching artist Rebecca Lazier debuts THERE MIGHT BE OTHERS May 15-18, in The La MaMa Moves! Dance Festival on a shared bill with Yoshiko Chuma. She took the time to answer our six questions.

1. Given
that your choreography draws from a wide range of dance traditions, what
qualities do you look for in a performer?There are
no criteria I could describe for which I wouldn’t find an exception. There is a ‘je ne sais quoi’ quality to
what draws me to a performer and potential collaborator. I will say, I find performers
compelling when they have equal parts control and abandon, the ability to be
precise and free, and bring a fearless, feral quality to their dancing, but I do not believe there is a
formula to being a dancer.2. As a
teacher and a practicing choreographer, how do you balance sharing your views
and experience with helping your students find their own aesthetic?Part of
my choreographic process is to continually challenge my aesthetic to help
discover perceptions and ideas I might not otherwise consider. I feel I can share this practice and
expose students to range of ways of creating without dictating what style,
genre, or aesthetic should be imbued in a student’s work. A larger obstacle
than keeping my aesthetic in check is to question the control a student’s training
exerts over their imagination, as they often think choreography is the
arrangement of steps already known. Students who have minimal dance experience
choreograph some of the most surprising pieces; they seem more able to go boldly
into new aesthetic territory without feeling they are destabilizing their
identity.3. How
did you arrive at the title There Might Be Others, and how does the title help
frame the piece?The story of how
I titled this dance is a very practical one! This piece began last year when
researching how other fields address repetition in form and content, I
encountered a compelling choreographic challenge in composer Terry Riley’s
score and performer instructions for his seminal In C: create 53
modules; have the performers repeat them as many times as they wish while
staying within 2-3 modules of each other; proceed in order; and listen to the
group when making decisions.

In initial rehearsals, I
choreographed movement modules that ranged from virtuosic gestures, games,
task-based prompts, to audience interactions. The dancers then implemented the
Riley rules in timed improvisations. In rehearsals we go back and forth between
refining modules and analyzing structural decisions.

Over time we have adapted
the score for our purposes, altering the rules around how to repeat each
modules, fine-tuning our definition of choreographic listening, and departing
from Riley’s instructions, the dancers now choose the
order of the piece in performance. The first module
is chosen by chance, by drawing from a hat, and each subsequent module is
selected in the moment by any cast member using a set of criteria to help guide
his/her choice. For the La MaMa
performances, they have 14 modules and the lights will go out after 20
minutes.Generally they do not get
to perform every module, time runs out first. Hence, there might be other modules the audience does not get to see.4. What
about making aleatoric work, where some elements of the composition are left to
chance, appeals to you?

This is
the first piece I have fully committed to using an open score.I have long used improvisation as a
method of building work and specific sections of my dances may include a set of
instructions that remain somewhat open, but here I am layering rules and
conditions to give the performers ultimate control of the composition.

I have
always wondered how to capture the wild moments in improvisation where a room
comes alive with presence. How can I give the performers agency, yet also
provide limitations so they can discover new possibilities?The score we are developing works to
balance these forces.I generated
the modules and established the rules around what types of repetitions are
possible and what types of play are permitted within each module.Since the performers choose how many
times to perform each module, determine how to transform the modules within
given conditions, and control the overall order, they take responsibility for
the composition.

I’m interested in how the dancers balance their subjective feeling state with
the question, what does the piece need right now?In performance
their dancing becomes a mode of choreographing, and choreographing becomes a
mode of being.The work is
truly co-authored, while the choreographic vision set forth in the articulation
of the individual modules remains present, the dancers determine the unity, or
contrast, of the overall piece. The aleatoric elements of the score
create a balance between strictly defined vocabulary and an aesthetic of
spontaneous creation. This score also supports my goal of building a
dance that is visceral and visual, individual and communal, chaotic and simple.5. Which
artists in the festivals (both DANSE and La MaMa Moves!) are you most excited
to see, or which have you seen?These
are both incredible festivals!It
is very exciting to see such diverse programing.I would see several shows a night if my rehearsal schedule permitted!

I am
looking forward to being on a program with Yoshiko.In 1985 I took a workshop from her as part of a Post-Modern
workshop directed by Sally Banes at Jacob’s Pillow.I was 16 and immersed in the ballet world; needless to say,
the classes changed my life.What
a full circle to be on a program together almost 30 years later.6. What
does working at La MaMa mean to you?This is my first time at La MaMa and it is a great privilege to be
included in this Festival.Say “La
MaMa” anywhere in the world and you invoke one of the most distinguished
histories of experimental work in New York City.I have long admired how La MaMa balances emerging and
emerged artists from diverse aesthetics roots.There is a distinct alchemy to the buildings of La MaMa and it has
been a joy to be able to play and create new work.I am extremely grateful to Nicky for programing my piece and
thankful to the entire staff, as well as the communications and production
teams, for their help bringing this dance, and the whole festival, to life.

Monday, May 12, 2014

The LA based clown troupe, FOUR CLOWNS brings its eponymous show to The Club @ La MaMa from May 23 - June 1, 2014. Founder and Artistic Director, Jeremy Aluma, took time out from preparing for their East Coast debut to answer 6 Questions:1. How did Four Clowns come together as a company?
In 2004, 10 years ago, I started my clown training - at The Clown School in LA, The Actors Center in NYC, and the Bali Master Conservatory in Indonesia. In one of my sessions at The Clown School with David Bridel and Orlando Pabotoy, I got an idea to create a clown show about four clowns who are stuck in their archetypes from childhood to death, and only through sharing their experiences with one another can they experience any relief. I sat with the idea for about 2 years and when the Hollywood Fringe Festival announced it's inauguration in 2010, I though it was the right place to premiere the idea. The show, Four Clowns, did tremendously well, so we decided to take it on the road. Over the course of the following year, we toured Four Clowns all over the country - to Las Vegas, Chicago, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Phoenix. We also continued to produce other material. A company slowly coalesced, and clown actors, director and teachers began getting in touch with me to collaborate. In November 2012, we formally created the company, Four Clowns.
2. What should audiences expect from the show?It's an exploration of the trials and tribulations of life told through the eyes of a clown. A clown is in touch with their emotions much more readily than you or I. They also have a direct connection to the audience. Essentially it's a very dark comedy about life.
3. Does the show change much from night to night?About 20% of the show is improvised so it changes regularly. There's also 2 different endings that depend on how the audience interacts with one of the characters. Also, after every show we discuss what jokes, bits and routines worked and which didn't so we are constantly tweaking. We have done the show about 70 times. 4. Who has inspired you?Slava's Snow Show. Orlando Pabotoy's That Beautiful Laugh. Charlie Chaplin. The Clown School in Los Angeles.
5. Do you think of your work as political? Our work's primary goal is to make people laugh.
6. What does working at La MaMa mean to you? We've been trying to work with La MaMa for the past 2 years so this is very exciting for us. La MaMa is a staple in the NYC theater scene and we are honored to be a part of its illustrious tradition.

La MaMa presents FOUR CLOWNS Conceived and directed by Jeremy Aluma May 23 – June 1, 2014 Friday and Saturday @ 10pm; Sunday @ 5:30pm The Club @ La MaMa74A East 4th Street(between Bowery and Second Avenue)New York, NY 10003Tickets: $18 Adults; $13 Students/Seniors; ten tickets priced at $10 are available, in advance, for every performance via web, phone or box office as part of La MaMa's 10@$10 ticketing initiative. 10@$10 tickets not available day of show. For Tickets and Info: CLICK HERE